Hi guyz (and WELCOME to our backyard, Carl Beck! An honor to have you aboard, sir!).

This is from my motel room in rural Virginia, at/abt 0100 Thurs morning. I get 5 hrs of sleep before I hit the hiway again, so I'll be brief.

WE HAVE DISCOVERED that Oct/69 240Z VIN#HLS30-00013 (Heretofore referred to as "Lucky 13":lol:) has been hiding in a Connecticut backyard for about the past 30 years!!! This car was delivered from Japan to Virginia, spent some of it's youth in NC *(Where I think I actually saw it and discussed it with the owner at that time), then came north to CT and hid!

Very important Datsun aficionados have been trying to track this car for decades ~ it seemed to have simply vanished and remained unaccounted for since the mid-70s. It's sister Z, VIN #16, was determined to be the earliest known commercial survivor and first Z car sold to the public. That car is in pristine shape today and remains a prize possession of our member Jim Frederick of Lutz, Florida. Up until Tuesday everyone remained convinced that Jim's #16 car was the sole survivor of the original boatload.

On Monday night, 10Aug, Phrog and I took our Z cars to a free Cruise-In up in North Haven CT. While there, we were confronted by a gentleman who casually claimed to own car number 13. I will write a fully detailed commentary when I return, describing what went thru my mind when this nice guy tried to convince me of that. I challenged him, of course, with my "Extensive and All-Inclusive Knowledge of The Datsun Z" and readily informed him he couldn't possibly own car #13. He laughed patiently and invited me to come 'round and see for myself on Tuesday.

Tuesday was a horribly busy day for me, preparing for this emergency trip. But y'all KNOW I made a 30 minute slot in my day to go see how this poor guy could have misread his own VIN number and wound up thinking he owned the most-sought after 240Z left on the planet. When I saw it myself, my knees nearly buckled and I stayed there 2 full hours, trying to ask questions while hyperventilating!

Guys, it's REAL. He really does own the car, it's in fabulous condition for Japanese tin which is rapidly approaching its 40th birthday, and it's all intact. The missing link. The actual car. "Lucky 13" survived and hid for more than 3 decades, while Z addicts combed the planet looking for it, like Knights searching Europe for the Holy Grail.

AND IT'S RIGHT HERE IN OUR DINKY LITTLE STATE!!! The most precious-numbered 240Z, hiding in the RUST BELT!!! The very last place anyone wud think to look for it!!!

I had to tell Jim Frederick and asked him to get the word to Carl Beck. If you dont know who those two are, you've been living in a cave for the past decades and driving Neons. Word spread from there and as of ystrdy, Mr K Himself had been advised that this car has been found intact and is in excellent shape!

There are lots more fun details and I intend to write a full report to the Membership when I return, but those are the bare facts for now. I am striving to make arrangements for the entire Club to see the car together (so this quiet, kind gentleman doesn't get his homelife and privacy destroyed by endless visits from hundreds of Z nuts) and YES, as your Membership Director, I fully intend to make Rick join our Club *(DONE!) so we have full bragging rights to his car, Jim's car, Allan Robbins' cars, Bob Sharp's cars, and eventually I intend to work on getting Carl Beck *(DONE!) and Mr Katayama Himself signed into YOUR CLUB.

If you hadn't continued your conversation with Rick, this car might have stayed hidden for another few decades! I was really skeptical (as you know!) but even the tiniest chance that he was right was worth investigating.

THANK YOU for your contribution to this Club and the world-wide Z community at large!!!

I have submitted a recommendation to Headquarters, World Z Fanatics, that you be decorated with the "Z World Lost Icon Discovery" medal

hey frank, clive and i are going to hunt down that guy rick and buy the car for a conversion.a car that solid should have an ls1 motor and a 6 speed. then we can say we have the earliest zcar with a v8!! there are plenty more old zcars around to restore, let us fix this one up right!!

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